50s

Look at the gas mileage....

I noticed the same thing, Adam! Where did we go wrong - oh so wrong?

Should anyone be able to add tags to these photos? Might help to make the collection more searchable.

@adamhodge, @lyle - that's the first thing I thought of too! Can you imagine where we'd be if we went forward instead of backward?

Hmmmm, brungrrl, you should be able to add tags. But just in case, I went in and re-edited the settings to be sure tagging is allowed. Try again, please, and then tag, tag, tag away!!

History notes Between the wars rail travel and hotel accommodation were too expensive for the average Australian family. Motoring made holidays possible for a much larger percentage of the population. The 'motor gypsies', as they were called, cooked on the roadside and camped in tents. The first camping ground for traveling motorists was established at Woodend in Victoria in 1924. Permanent sleeping cabins soon began to appear on the camping grounds, to be followed by motels ("motor hotels"), caravan parks, and roadside eateries. Homemade caravans, which first appeared in the 1920s, made it possible to have touring holidays that were cheaper than staying at motels and more comfortable than in tents. With the upgrading of roads, local councils built caravan parks at beach resorts and tourist towns. The caravan industry really took off after the Don firm in Victoria began making caravans as a backyard business in 1934. By the early 1950s, many other caravan companies emerged including Viscount and Millard in New South Wales, Coronet and Franklin in Victoria, Chesney in Queensland, and Tru-Line in Western Australia. The competition was keen and the original plywood vans soon disappeared as sleek aluminum-clad models took over. Interiors became more sophisticated, with iceboxes and two-burner Shellite or kerosene stoves giving way to gas and electric refrigerators and ovens. Electric lighting quickly became standard and the caravans got larger. Local commercial production peaked in the mid-1970s. Compact caravans developed from the late 1970s with companies such as Windsor introducing the 'pop-top' to capitalize on interior space. Caravanning went through a decline for some years after that but in recent times has gained in popularity, with large numbers of 'grey nomads' (retired baby boomers) now leisurely touring the country." Source: vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/1991/caravan-history...

So much an image of its time! We used to talk among the women in my family about the change in childbirth from one generation to another. I was the first generation of mothers to have my husband's presence actually expected, rather than forbidden or tolerated.

Unofficial West Hospital Preservation Society on Flickr.

Coulda been me if the picture was taken seven months later.

And the little one is waving!